VOA Special Report

Voices from Mosul

When Islamic State militants swept into Mosul in 2014, conditions in the northern Iraqi city were so bad some residents believed IS rule could bring stability and prosperity. Their hopes were quickly, brutally dashed.
Now, nearly three years later, Iraq’s prime minister has declared victory. While it may still be some time until the last of the fighting is truly over, the key question may be will the Iraqi government do any better in the aftermath of victory than its foes, or will another extremist force – be it tribal, ethnic, or sectarian – once again gain the upper hand.

As Iraqi forces poise themselves to win the battle for Mosul city in the coming days or weeks, some locals fear that when this war is over, rebuilding infrastructure will not be enough to end more than a decade of extremist brutality and build a lasting peace.

Mapping the fight

The long battle to reclaim Mosul

When the offensive to retake Mosul began in October 2016, Iraqi and coalition forces swiftly overran many IS-controlled towns and villages surrounding Mosul. But in Iraq’s densely-populated second city, the battle was waged one neighborhood at a time as survivors hid in basements or fled.

Click through the maps to see the progress of the conflict, then click on the red pins to watch Heather Murdock’s frontline reporting.

Reporting from the front

VOA Cairo Bureau chief Heather Murdock is an award-winning reporter currently covering the Middle East and North Africa for Voice of America. She has worked as a foreign correspondent for VOA as well as Bloomberg News, AP, Time.com and others. She is the author of “Everything is Possible in Yemen: The misadventures of a first time journalist in the Middle East.”

Jamie Dettmer covers the Mideast and Europe for VOA. A frontline reporter, he has also previously run news bureaus in Washington, Moscow, the Middle East and Europe, and has worked for Newsweek, Daily Beast, The Hill, The Times of London and others.